JET. 11.] SCHOOL DAYS IN PARIS. 13 



very simple: the boys marched into the rtfectoire, where long 

 loaves were run under a sort of chaff-cutting machine, and as 

 the great hunks fell on one side they were snatched up by the 

 boys played at ball with, and then eaten and washed down 

 with a little water. Dinner consisted *of bouillon and boidlli 

 followed by a dish of vegetables, the beverage being what the 

 boys called attendance that is to say, one bottle of vin ordinaire 

 to one bucket of water. But all seemed contented, whilst I, as a 

 stranger, was allowed a few indulgences. The school, however, 

 soon broke up, and M. Colin removed to a small house, with a 

 few boys, lower down the street. 



Education in Paris was at that time (1823) very cheap. As 

 extras I was taught, besides Italian, drawing, dancing, and fenc- 

 ing, at one franc per lesson. Our school was attached to the 

 College Bourbon (changed to the Lyc($e Condorcet), but I was 

 considered too young to profit by the connection. Amongst the 

 students attending the College was the Due d'Orleans, son of 

 Louis Philippe, who a few years later was killed by a fall from 

 his carriage. We had two half-holidays a week, when we were 

 taken generally either to play in amongst the chestnut-trees of 

 the Tuileries gardens, or to the top of Montmartre with its 

 swings and quarries. The fossils were then unknown to me, but 

 I took great interest in the fine crystals of gypsum, which we could 

 cleave into plates as thin as a wafer and as clear as glass. In 

 summer we were frequently taken to one of the large baths on 

 the Seine, and there, wrapped in a peignoir, would spend long 

 hours. On Sundays I was taken to the French Protestant 

 church, or else went to spend the day with my sister in the Rue 

 de Valois. Occasionally Mdlle. Fannie would take me with her 

 in early morning to the great central markets. Nothing, in fact, 

 could have been kinder and more considerate than the treatment 

 I received, and I shall ever hold the memory of M. Colin and his 

 family in affectionate remembrance. Mme. Colin treated me as 

 a son. In fact, Mdlle. Fannie used to exclaim, " Oh ! qu'il est 

 gate ce petit Joseph ! " But with all this my studies were not 

 neglected, and I learned easily and quickly. 



He was petted and caressed, but was not spoilt, 

 and the happiness of school - life in Paris was never 



